This is a discussion on Decently priced goods, AWFUL technical abilities : Fashion Car Station, Kottivakkam within Modifications & Accessories, part of the Under the Hood category; A month back, my car Autocop stopped working. Their Chennai mechanic is a clueless fellow, and they couldn't diagnose anything ...

A month back, my car Autocop stopped working. Their Chennai mechanic is a clueless fellow, and they couldn't diagnose anything - he basically charged me 250 bucks for coming, muttering under his breath that nothing can be done, and trying to sell me a new system.

But I had enough of that - I bought a MGA Nippon system. While installing it, I asked the MSM electrician to remove the defunct autocop wiring. In the process he cut the blue "remote" wire that went from the HU to the amp. And my ICE became defunct.

That is why I landed up here - its quite near to my place and bang on the OMR.

It has a very decent selection of stuff at reasonable prices (I picked up a microfiber towel for 120, which Autotrends sells for 140!). And lo behold, they speak Hindi as well.

But their technician IS A COMPLETE DISASTER. He spent about half an hour trying to diagnose this problem (which Radio Warehouse took about 2 min to diagnose) and did the following faux pas:
a. He didn't recognize that the remote cable was missing! (the MSM fellow had yanked it out!).
b. Despite my insisting over and over that it had been working fine till a few days back, and that it must be a single cut wire, he proceeded to use a blade with LEDs to test whether all the wires in the main wiring harness were getting power or not. Basically he opened up the taped up wiring, then used the blade with LEDs to check for current (thus splicing it in the process, no? I'm not getting the right word here)
c. On my insisting that he should check the amp (since the speakers had no current), he "tested" it by removing the sub cables.
d. About half an hour had passed by now, and I had to pick my kid from the nursery so I told him to close it all up. The genius connected the sub cables wrongly (switched sub and component speaker cables) and didn't fully tape up the wires he'd been testing in b.

Total train wreck this guy was. It took me about 20 mins of effort (+driving) at Radio Warehouse to correct it all (esp the sub cables which he messed up). Avoid this place for any work on your cars - maybe non-electrical accessories can still be worked out!

Bizzare is the word that can be used the way the technician handled you. I would suggest if you could bring this incident to the attention of the owner of the shop. If the owner is aware and still employing the said technician then no one else can do anything about it.

I have seen in certain cases that the actual owners are not aware of the capabilities of their technicians and have taken corrective steps when incidents are brought to their attention.

However, seeing what you have gone through, the best would be avoid the shop for electrical issues.

Bizzare is the word that can be used the way the technician handled you. I would suggest if you could bring this incident to the attention of the owner of the shop. If the owner is aware and still employing the said technician then no one else can do anything about it.

I have seen in certain cases that the actual owners are not aware of the capabilities of their technicians and have taken corrective steps when incidents are brought to their attention.

However, seeing what you have gone through, the best would be avoid the shop for electrical issues.

You're right but it is complicated. Any right minded person would fire this electrician or atleast take him off the job while he is trained. Now ideally if I knew the extent of the mess, I could've made a video. Presently it will be my word against his, and it can turn nasty.

Though if anyone has any doubt, they can speak to the portly audio installer at Radio warehouse who speaks hyderabadi hindi!

Would you invest an hour of your life in such a lost cause? I can't. I'm a consultant who spends less than 48 hours a week at home with my family.

That is why I landed up here - its quite near to my place and bang on the OMR.

But their technician IS A COMPLETE DISASTER.

Total train wreck this guy was. It took me about 20 mins of effort (+driving) at Radio Warehouse to correct it all (esp the sub cables which he messed up). Avoid this place for any work on your cars - maybe non-electrical accessories can still be worked out!

Hello again

Come down to Jewajee Car Decor at Thiruvanmiyur, if you ever need any help with ICE and stuff.

Ask for Taher. He's the young chap in-charge of the place.
He is a genuinely nice guy, who knows his way around stuff.
Since you are based in OMR, Thiruvanmiyur will be much closer to you than going all the way to Radio Ware House.
They've got good reviews all around from folks who've been there.

Come down to Jewajee Car Decor at Thiruvanmiyur, if you ever need any help with ICE and stuff.

Ask for Taher. He's the young chap in-charge of the place.
He is a genuinely nice guy, who knows his way around stuff.
Since you are based in OMR, Thiruvanmiyur will be much closer to you than going all the way to Radio Ware House.
They've got good reviews all around from folks who've been there.

Thanks. I live about 700m from them! I had seen them once and then could not place the board at all and had forgotten about them. (I thought they were in indiranagar!).

I will definitely visit them sometime! Thanks for the heads up! Do you have any numbers?

But seriously, my experience with radio warehouse has been so exceptionally positive (and the awesome hindi making my life simple), I don't mind scheduling dinners / mall visits around the area so that I can sneak in a visit and get things done!!

Thanks. I live about 700m from them! I had seen them once and then could not place the board at all and had forgotten about them. (I thought they were in indiranagar!).

I will definitely visit them sometime! Thanks for the heads up! Do you have any numbers?

But seriously, my experience with radio warehouse has been so exceptionally positive (and the awesome hindi making my life simple), I don't mind scheduling dinners / mall visits around the area so that I can sneak in a visit and get things done!!

Yup, give Taher a call at 98408-29421. Let him know you're from Team-Bhp.

And no problems with Hindi/English either. Taher speaks both, fluently. I would never recommend a place unless ease of communication is of the highest order

The Owner is a decent guy and I have bought the EU Style plates for my cars. However the folks working there are absolutely clueless. I had to force them to have damping stickers for the number plates so they don't rattle.

Next time I went to change the HU (Didn't buy from them) in my dad's Spark. The clueless technician did something and the Rear Left right channel didn't get signal. So both L and R speakers are driven from the right channel. Need to fix it.

Like many I visited them because of the location. But then it's only good to buy stuff but don't ever fix anything there

A comment on this shop after 3 visits..
Location: OMR before the toll gate (coming from the city)

Visit#1: Car waxing.
It was an unfortunate day when this certain notorious kid scratched my bonnet (Chevrolet Beat Black). My black beauty was damaged
I couldn't live with it. After doing some research, I decided to visit this place. I was asked to share some pictures on whatsapp during our first telephonic conversation following which I visited the shop. The polishing guy tried pretty hard to remove the scratches and I must admit that the job done was not bad at all. Though the scratches didnít go (I didnít expect complete removal as the scratches were deep into the paint), the ugliness was reduced. After 3 months, my car still is shiny (after I clean it of course :-p). So overall, job is satisfactory.

Visit#2: To install power windows.
Since it was not very easy to find autocop power windows for the Beat (speaking from personal experience in Chennai), I went with Mr. Habibís (shop owner) advice to install Sai windows after he promised me replacement guaranty. After the wait to get the required parts, they did a pretty neat job of installation. The garage space was pretty OK to accommodate 2-3 cars and the mechanics were pretty friendly. I managed to take some pictures.

Visit# 3: Left side power window issue
Due to some mysterious reason, my front left power window stopped working. So I had to go to back to the shop and as promised during installation, it was replaced for free.
Being the auto-idiot, I bought sun-films for my windows and rear shield. In addition, I got my front speakers replaced since the existing ones made some weird noise. The new ones seem to work fine.
This time I have made a deal to add some stripes to my car. Had it not been for the taxes and my recent trips, I would have done it already. May be next month I will do that.

So overall, I don't understand the negativity of the original post. Of course, one shouldn't expect cutting edge research and development abilities from such a place! My experience with this shop has been pretty good. For aftermarket stuff, I would go back there as the location and their prices suit me well.

Last edited by Aditya : 2nd June 2015 at 07:04.
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